Vegetarianism
Oxford, 2012
Abstract
This article takes up a series of moral problems about industrial farming, which it assesses as a form of cruelty to animals, as well as environmentally destructive, harmful to rural regions, and with serious consequences for human health. It lays out and attempts to document the pertinent facts behind these claims, especially facts about the farming of pigs, cows, chickens, turkeys, and seafood. It attempts to explain why the industrial system has been remarkably successful as a dominant economic force. It argues that we should boycott industrially produced meat and should not kill animals for food even if the means are humane. It eventually concludes that in practice we should all be vegetarians.
Quotes from this work
Suffering, by its nature, is awful, and so one needs an excellent reason to cause it. Occasionally, one will have such a reason. Surgery may cause a human being severe postoperatory pain, but the surgeon may be right to operate if that’s the only way to save the patient.
And what if the sufferer is not a human, but an animal? This doesn’t matter. The underlying principle is that suffering is bad because of what it’s like for the sufferer. Whether the sufferer is a person or a pig or a chicken is irrelevant, just as it’s irrelevant whether the sufferer is white or black or brown. The question is merely how awful the suffering is to the individual.